Railway car side wall



Jan. 27, 1959 BOCK ET AL 2,870,723

RAILWAY CAR SIDE WALL Filed June 29, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 fliiorney 1959 G. E. BOCK ET AL 2,870,723

RAILWAY CAR SIDE WALL Filed June 29, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor '5' n George 5 Back: N 81 Jbhn H Span Ge by 605 WW .Ai iorney Jan. 27, 1959 G. E. BOCK ET AL 2,870,723

RAILWAY CAR SIDE WALL Filed June 29, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 .[nv anions L GeorgeEiBock J'ohnH Spence .A liar-n e United States Patent RAILWAY CAR SIDE WALL George E. Bock, Munster, Ind., and John H. Spence,

Chicago, Ill., assignors to Pullman-Standard Car Mannfacturing Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application June 29, 1954, Serial No. 440,134

3 Claims. (Cl. 105401) other parts of the car frame to support a load is now well established. Although innumerable attempts have been made to eliminate ineflicient and unsightly buckling of this thin outer sheathing, only partial success has resulted. In addition to the buckling problem, another problem has been the age-old connection between the window framing units and the vertical side posts, necessitating the posts being secured immediately adjacent the windows wherever they happen to be placed, according to the design of the car, an uneconomical and inefiicient necessity from a structural analysis. Wherever windows are used, the frames are usually not only connected to the side posts themselves, but are also connected to an upper window header member and a lower belt rail member, each of which also is connected to adjacent side posts. 1

It has been found that by having the side posts of continuous form instead of'interrupted, the original cost is less. It has also been found that by having a continuous post, the numberof welded connections to the outer sheathing is lessened making the fabrication of the continuous posts and outer sheathing more economical; and by having less undesirable welds there are less stresses set up in the thin outer sheathing. As mentioned before, many attempts have been made to eliminate the transmission of stress and strain from the internal framing members, such as posts, belt rails and headers, to the outer sheathing which causes buckling and wrinkling therein. It has been found that the tendency to buckle will always be prevalent wherever the side structural framing unit is of such rigidity that the outer sheathing is forced to conform to the particular configuration of the side framing. Thus, as the present methods of forming railway car side framing elements do not result in highly precisioned elements, there may be instances after the assembly of these parts when they are not perfectly aligned, resulting in the outer sheathing having a tendency to buckle or bend when assembled thereto. It is to be emphasized that only a slight misalignment of a side framing may cause the outer sheathing to buckle. Therefore, to improve such'a situation whereby the outer sheathing is made stiffer and the side vertical framing elements are made less rigid so the outer sheathing can influence sufficient movement in the elements in order to obtain the desired alignment, thus preventing buckling of the side sheathing, and to retain frame having no internal web structural connections such.

2,870,723 Patented Jan. 27, 1959 2 as window frames, .belt rails and window headers, is secured to an outer sheathing of such rigidity that the now more flexible vertical side posts will conform to the bending stiffness of the outer sheathing.

In addition thereto, it has been ascertained that by divorcing the window structures from the webs of the vertical posts in all structural respects, a still greater rigidity of the outer sheathing is obtained, complemented by retaining the flexible freedom of the continuous posts. For these reasons, another object of this invention is to provide a side wall structure wherein continuous posts may be placed at any desired location, irrespective of window framing units which are in no way structurally connected to the posts except by the outer specially corrugated sheathing wall to which the window framing units are secured. It is obvious in this instance, that to connect a window frame to the webs of the adjacent side posts would partially defeat the objective of the invention, as the connection would rigidify the inner side wall structure. Therefore, it is believed necessary in order to achieve a higher degree of stiffness and resiliency than that obtained by the continuous post and outer sheathing combination, to include thereina window framing unit as particularly exemplified herein.

The aforementioned and other objects will become more apparent by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective View of an outer side wall sheathing section of a railway car embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 isan elevational View of the section of a railway car sidewall structure. depicted in Fig. 1, looking from the inside of the car; V v

Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken vertical sectional view of the side wall structure, taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the window frame and adjoining'parts, taken along the line 44 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the window frames in relation to the vertical side posts and adjoining posts, taken along the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, a section of a side wall structure of a railway car is depicted wherein a side sill 10 and a side plate 11 are joined by a longitudinally extending letterboard panel 12, intermediate panel 13 and girder panel 14 therebelow (Fig. 1). Also joining the sidesill and the side plate are a plurality of continuout vertical side posts 15. The vertical side posts do not con-tact thehorizontal portions of the sill and plate, thereby increasing the flexibility of the transverse web portion 15b of each post. By referring to Fig. 3, it may be noted that the letterboard panel is spot welded at 16 and 17 to the side plate 11, and, as the entire structure is composed of stainless steel sheetmaterial, all other securing connections are similar spot welds, with the exception of the are welded butt joints 24a Where the outer Window header 22 and the outer belt rail 23 each join the pier panels 24.

The horizontally disposed belt rail and window header units have been eliminated from their usual location, that being secured to and extending between each transverse web 15b of each post 15. The-usual location resulted in each post, being rigidifie'd to such a degree that if a post was placed during assembly in a manner that an outer flange was not in the same longitudinal plane as the outer flanges of otherposts, the slightly stiffened outer sheathing would be forced to adhere to the outer flange due to the rigidity of the web 15b. Thus, by transferring the rigidity caused by the rail and header units from the webs, of the vertical posts to the outer sheathing, as will be explained hereinafter, whereby the increased bending stiffness .of the outer sheathingflis are: moved apart from the now increased torsional flexing capacity of the vertical posts 15, the sheathing has an increased influence over the movement .of .the posts'ithus allowing the sheathingto overcome any slightimisalignment of outer flanges 15c.

The letterboard .panel 12 is comprised of two :panel strips 18 and 19, each strip having a hat-shaped corrugation 20 for stiffening purposes, an extending flange .21 of which overlies an adjacent strip. In order to compensate for the elimination of the usual inner window header element and belt rail element, and to provide the necessary rigidity to the outer sheathing wall, the intermediate panel is comprised of an-upper hat-shaped icorrugated strip, which shall be called an outer window header 22 and which has an upper flange 22a secured to the flange 21 of strip 19., and at lower hat-shaped corrugated strip, which shall be called an outer belt rail 23, it being noted that these-corrugations are substantially larger and of thicker stock than the corrugations 20 of adjacent panels for arc welding purposes. The belt rail 23 and header 22 are joined intermediate thereof and at a predetermined spacing by pier panels 24 which form header units are eliminated, the present structure being one of more economical fabrication and enabling the outer sheathing to receive any stress or strain without buckling or twisting and without the aid of any additional devices between the sheathing and the posts, the

unencumbered side posts being more flexible, thereby enabling them to conform to the movement of the outer sheathing. i

Although the efl'iciency and objectives of the aforementioned structure are still possible where other reasons dictate the use of window framing units necessarily connected to the web portions of the side posts for structural purposes, it is necessary to the further efficiency or" this particular structure that window units as disclosed herein be used. The window framing comprises a novel box frame of four S-shaped vunits: the lower horizontal unit including an integral window frame angle portion 29 and sash angle portion '30, the angle portion 30 being joined to the outer belt rail 23 (Fig. 4); the two side units including an integral window frame vertical stile 31 and side sash angle portion 32, the angle portion 32 being secured to the outer sheathing (Fig. and the upper unit being formed of two parts, one including a window frame angle portion 33 connected to an upper sash angle portion 34 of the other part, the latter being secured to the outer window header 22 (Fig. 4). Each frame angle has an inner flange'29a, 31a and 33a vertically disposed and in the same plane as the inner flange a of each post 15. Itis to be noted by referring to Fig. 2 that there is no direct structural connection bepanel 36, having placed thereover'at each post a vertically disposed furring channel 40. A longitudinally extending heater pipe angle .41 is placed adjacent the base of the furring channel 4.0:(Fig. 3) and a, window sill 4 support .42 .ofangle section .is secured .to. the channels 40 and the channel support 39. By the channel support 39 being secured to the window frame angle flange 29a and the vertical post flange 15a, elements which are also connected to the outer belt rail 23, the support 39 and the transversely adjacentibeltrail 23 form a longitudinal structural elementhaving a greater section modulus and thus a greater resistance to transverse'bending than thepresent day belt rail structures.

For enclosing a curtain roll (not shown) a curtain box cover 43 is secured to the posts .15 so as toface the curtain roll recess formed by the upper window frame angle 33. Wall clips 44 for interior finish are secured at any desired location along the posts'15 and along the reinforcement plate 45 secured to the side plate 11. By the cover 43 being secured to the window frame angle flange 33a and the vertical post flange 15a, elements which are also connected to the outer header 22, the cover 43 and the transversely adjacent window header 22 form a longitudinal structural element having argreater section modulus and. thus a greater resistance to transverse bending than ,the present day window header structures.

Thus it may be .seen ,thatarailway car wall structure comprising an outer stiffened sheathing in combination with continuous posts, the latter having no structural connections between the webs thereof is provided wherein the posts are rendered more flexible so as to prevent buckling and twisting in the outer sheathing. In addition. thereto, it may be seen .thattby providing Window frame :units attached only to and thereby further rigidifying theouter sheathing, not only will the posts be left unencumbered but they are free torbe located wherever desirable.

What is claimedis:

1. Ina vehicle side framehaving a side plate and a side sill, a plurality of vertical members, and outer sheathing having window openings therein, said vertical members being structurally secured to said sill, :plate and sheathing, and' window framing means structurally secured directly only to said outer sheathing thereby stiffening said outer sheathing .to such an extent as to cause said vertical members to conformto said sheathing, the windowframing :means comprising a box frame having four units, each unit including a window frameelement connected to a sash element, each sash element being secured to said outer sheathing.

2. In a vehicle side frame having a sideplate and a side sill, a plurality of flanged vertical members, and outer sheathing having a window openings therein, said vertical members being structurally secured to said sill, plate and sheathing, and window framing means structurally secured directly only-to said outer sheathing thereby stitfening said outer sheathing to suchan extentas to cause said vertical members to conform to said sheathing the window framing means comprising a' box frame of horizontal and vertical units, each horizontal unit including a sash angle secured to an outer sheathing and being connected to a window frame angle having an inner vertical flange disposed in the same plane as an inner flange of each vertical member.

3. In a vehicle side frame having a side sill and a side plate, a plurality of vertical members each secured to the side sill and side plate, and outer sheathing having window openings therein, said sheathing comprising a plurality of panel strips below said window openings arranged one above the other and bear-ing against the vertical members and the lowermost one of the strips being secured to the side sill and all of the strips being secured to'the vertical members, a belt rail bearing against the vertical members and secured to the uppermost one ofthestrips and secured to the vertical members, another plurality ofpanel strips above said window openings arranged one above the other and bearingagainst the vertical members and the uppermost one of the strips being'securedto'the side plate and all of the strips being secure'cl'to the vertical members, a

window header bearing'against the vertical members and secured to the lowermost one of the last named strips and to the vertical members, and spaced pier panels extending between the belt rail and window header and bearing against the adjacent vertical members and secured to the 5 belt rail and the window header and the vertical members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,190,334 Nystrom Feb. 13, 1940 6 Trauvetter Sept. 23, 1941 Dean Aug. 25, 1942 Theriault Mar. 27, 1951 Dean Apr. 15, 1952 Watter Dec. 9, 1952 Eksergian July 21, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Canada May 3, 1955 

